Venus Activities
Overview Although closer to Earth than Mars, Venus is far more challenging. Requirements Venus has the second strongest gravity after Earth. Its atmosphere is very dense, making landing easy. The atmosphere can slow down a ship coming from heliocentric orbit without a problem. Unlike the real Venus, the atmosphere is not corrosive and lacks winds. Still, probes that spent too much time on the planet tend to vanish. Because of the high gravity and dense atmosphere, return missions from the surface are very difficult. Around Venus It is more easy to send a ship in orbit around Venus then it is for Mars. Missions might include: *Flybys (with or without entering Venus Sphere of Influence); *Orbiters (like NASA did a few times); *Building a Venus space station. In order to save some fuel, using atmospheric drag can be useful, but risky. It is relatively easy to send a ship to orbit Venus and then return home. Venus is often used for gravity assists by ships traveling between Earth and Mercury. One Way Missions Main article: Venus Landing Mission Any ship sent on a collision course with Venus will be slowed down by its atmosphere. Without a parachute, the landing will destroy part of the ship, but there is a significant chance that it will survive. A parachute is enough to slow down a ship and not affect any of its parts. Ships that stay for too long on Venus tend to vanish. Because of this, building a colony might not be possible. Venus Return Mission Main article: Venus Return Mission The most challenging mission in the game appears to be a Venus return. Using only the free package, it is nearly impossible. Almost all attempts of using a single rocket ended-up with a ship unable to return. The rockets which managed to actually return came back to earth with no or almost no fuel. There are a few ways to make a Venus mission return, which have been experimented by various players or are still in theory: *Launch two separate ships, one on top of the other (this can be done on Earth, near the Launchpad). *Merge two ships in low Earth orbit. One ships will use its fuel to send the other one on a Venus trajectory impact. *Refuel in orbit around Venus (this requires another ship with enough fuel in its tanks). *Refuel once you left Venus (also, this requires another ship). *Land two ships on Venus surface, one on top of the other (the first ship will use its fuel to send the other one out of the atmosphere). *If only a capsule manages to get out of Venus, it can be rescued by another ship. *Rescue Venus capsule if it manages to enter Earth orbit. Nearly all Venus return missions use Earth's atmosphere drag to slow down and return to Earth, then land with a parachute. One mistake that one might do is to forget to add an extra parachute for landing on Earth. Also, landing on Venus without a parachute is possible with little fuel consumption. Probably the most easy way to merge ships into a complex rocket in the free version able to reach Venus is on the small Martian moons Phobos and Deimos. However, traveling all the way to Venus is risky. See Also What To Do In Spaceflight Simulator Category:Tutorial